Ending The Silence On Suicides - BTown

 

Suicide is an act that may seem to be a boon for some and a punishment for others. However, one way or another, suicide ends up as a punishment for the victim's family whether that is acknowledged or not. This week is Suicide Prevention Week and thus BollyCurry brings to you a few Bollywood movies that have explored the topic of suicide.

 

Teenage and/or youth suicides seem to be increasing by the day. This was brought to light by Bollywood through the blockbuster hit 3 Idiots. The movie begins with the death of a student, Joy Lobo (Ali Fazal) who commits suicide after Virus, the college director (Boman Irani) informs him and his family that he would not be graduating despite the hard work he has put into school. Discouraged, the message he leaves behind is a chilling 'I quit'. The second student that is shown to have attempted suicide due to similar academic and family stress is one of the four protagonists Raju (Sharman Joshi), who survives, thanks to his friends Farhan (R. Madhavan) and Rancho (Aamir Khan).

 

Anjaana Anjaani explored a broader topic of suicide. On one side is Akash (Ranbir Kapoor) who has a loan of US$12 million and on the other is Kiara (Priyanka Chopra) who caught her fiance Kunal (Zayed Khan) having an affair. Both head out to jump off the George Washington Bridge to be free of their problems, where they meet and decide to spend a few days doing the things they've wanted to do in their lives at least once before committing suicide. In the process of those days they start talking and realize that they can make everything work out and head back to their lives to fix their problems. The lesson from the movie is clear as water -  running away from your problems does not solve anything. When you attempt to take a step further and fix those problems, life seems much easier to deal with.

 

A huge issue facing India today is the rate of suicides among farmers. Peepli Live is a comic satire that explored this issue along with the subsequent media and political response. Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) are poor farmer brothers who spend most of their time and money drinking, leaving the family famished and in debt with the bank. One day, they start discussing Natha's suicide as an option to end their problems, which Rakesh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) picks up on and reports. This causes a huge uproar as the media and political parties attempt to cash in on a possible suicide story. In the end, in an accident, Natha is assumed to have died, while he is actually working as a laborer in the construction industry and his family loses everything to the bank. While no one actually commits suicide in this movie, the message seems to be the same. Although death might seem to be an easy solution in some circumstances, giving up helps nobody. The impact of a supposed death on the family is very well depicted to show viewers the ugly reality.

 

This theme was also explored in the recent super hit Aashiqui 2. It is a tragic romance story, in which a talented successful musician named Rahul (Aditya Roy Kapoor) falls into a vicious cycle of alcohol abuse and lets it affect his career and professional relationships. When he comes upon a girl named Arohi (Shraddha Kapoor) singing at a bar, he comes to the realisation that she was much more worthy of the fame and fortune than he was. On the way to making her a singing superstar, the two fall in love, but with Rahul's deteriorating mental and physical health, the two are forced to faced many obstacles. Eventually, Rahul commits suicide, afraid of continuing to be Arohi's weakness and hindering her success any further. It is often said that family and close friends can always help you pull through, but when one doesn't want to pull through themselves, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to help. 

 

Next up is Gangster, a story that revolves around Simran (Kangna Ranaut) and her love for both Daya (Shiney Ahuja) and Aakash (Emraan Hashmi). Simran happens to be the girlfriend of a notorious gangster, Daya, who leaves her behind for his work. While working at a bar, she comes across wonderful Aakash, who is later revealed as an undercover police officer looking to get to Daya by using Simran. Over time, as Simran fell in love with Aakash, she agrees to help him arrest Daya and later, kills Aakash himself when she comes to know she had been used to get to her ex-lover. Having been the reason of demise for both her lovers, Simran takes the drastic step of ending her life. A common theme that seems to be resonating among all the movies thus far, is 'helplessness' which becomes one of the many reasons of the suicide. 

 

There are many other movies that cover the topic of suicide, including Jhoota Hi Sahi, Woh Lamhe, and Aitraaz.

 

 

 

Writer: Shreya S.

Editor: Harjot D. and Gunia M.

Graphics: Virina